Back to living in North London. Doing two of my favourite things. Cooking and eating.

Sunday, 13 January 2013

A Little Slice of Italy in South London

Finally after a long time of almost trying to eat at Zucca, we finally
made it through its doors for an incredible night of food and drink.

Living in north London, Bermondsey is a bit of a pain to get to, we have
tried once or twice on the spur of the moment without a reservation but it was
always fully booked and since then it’s never been an area I’ve gone down to,
especially nowadays as I’m trying to sample all my local restaurants in my
northern cum eastern part of London.

The thing I love about proper Italian food is its seasonality and
simplicity in cooking and flavours that come from paying respect to the
ingredients, which is a far cry from, what most people think of when it comes
to Italian food.

Zuuca is definitely a place that pays respect to the ingredients and
does just enough to let them sing their harmonious tune.

The restaurant is very modern and chic in design with full length
windows that allow passers by to gaze in, and by the look on their faces as
they walk past you know they are jealous.

I’m not normally a lover of pasta outside of Italy, but apart from the
River Café and Locando Locatelli, I’ve always shied away from pasta in restaurants,
as normally it is pretty dreadful.

But something was telling me it would be ok here, so a starter of the
pappardelle with a rabbit ragu and an ox tongue was ordered.

Mains were the famous Veal Chop and also the Guinea Fowl with a lush
plate of polenta as well.

The pappardelle was at first glance the smallest portion I had ever
seen, but after the veal chop it actually turned to be a good size.

The pasta was perfectly al dente as it should be and not to thick
either, the rabbit ragu was not over cooked, which has been a problem other
times I have had it.

The ox tongue although looked pitiful was actually a really good slice
of tongue well flavoured, firm but still yielding a little. I do love a slice
of tongue, shame it’s becoming something more difficult to get hold of these
days. A big shame.

I’d heard and read so much about the veal chop, that I’d already made my
mind up before I went that night as to what I was going to have.

I don’t normally eat veal, not that I have anything against it, it’s
just not seen that often on menus these days, thanks to the many protests
against it.

The chop I have to say was awesome, a really good cut of meat, well
seasoned, nicely charred and the taste was wow. It’s not a small piece of meat
either, so if you want it, bring an appetite with you.

I had a side of cabbage, but would have preferred the polenta that went
with the guinea fowl. I love polenta and this was as good as I ever had, smooth
and creamy.

I was so interested in my chop that I didn’t actually get to try this
dish, but I was reliably informed that it was as good as everything that went
before it.

The couple on the table next to us were less impressed with the food and
kept grumbling between themselves, this is the thing with Italian food, it
doesn’t rely on heavy sauces or mounds of butter or spices to give it flavour
and give you that wow factor. It’s just great ingredients and cooking these
simply and cleanly.

I’m kicking myself now that I never got to try Zucca until now, but it
is definitely going to be high on my list now of places to keep returning to. Yes it was a £100 well spent.